Technology and Social Interaction

3. Technology and Social Interaction

Your task for this assignment is to describe your thoughts on how technology influences social interaction. Do you think the spread of technology has had a positive or negative impact on your everyday face to face interaction? What about for people more generally? What do you think about using the Internet to meet other people (via online dating sites, Craigslist, message boards, fan sites, online gaming, or virtual worlds)? Is connecting to others via online communities a viable way of creating meaningful relationships, or are we neglecting our everyday relationships in favor of these "virtual" relationships? Do we, as a society, need to focus on creating more "real" spaces/public spheres for people to connect, interact, and discuss meaningful political and social issues?
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Technology loosens the restrictions on interactions with strangers. We are not as accountable to strangers whom we speak to with interactive technology as a proxy. Online dating websites, for example, depend on impromptu interactions with strangers that wouldn't ordinarily happen due to real-life social restrictions. Technology also extends the capacity to interact with real-life acquaintances. Students email professors, voice and video chat, use instant and text messaging to exchange information with acquaintances. Finally, we have a newfound capacity to extend the reach of our real-life social networks through social technology. Long-distance relationships sprout between online acquaintances, and sometimes translate to intimate relationships with individuals who otherwise may never have been accessible.

Is this positive or negative? For me, this has been very beneficial; I'm rather introverted and come out of my shell online, making friends and forming relationships I would otherwise neglect. The influence of technology in my social life could conversely be seen as a "crutch," and it is possible I would be forced to form substantive relationships in person instead if not for the Internet. While there certainly can be negative consequences of social technology, I would argue the influence of such technology is largely positive and has benefitted cultures that adapt their regular use. We make decisions based on information, and social media is one broad category of software that draws in practical information for consumers. This promotes a uniquely well-rounded environment for decision making. That said, information can simply be manipulated--a feature some technologies will taut as an asset, and others, a liability.

I am largely skeptical about meeting individuals whom I've met on the Internet. I feel anonymity makes it easier to mask undesirable characteristics, while simultaneously inviting unforeseen honesty behind the protection of the computer screen. I am curious whether I am meeting who I think I'm meeting, but in some regard, real-life interactions face similar concerns. Some contexts for forming friendships are more sketchy than others. For example, I might be willing to meet players I've befriended from a popular massively-multiplayer online game for coffee, but I would think twice about meeting someone from Craigslist, especially in light of news of "Craigslist killers" Anonymity allows individuals to hide their intentions, but certain contexts lend well to a natural interaction, where individuals are held more accountable, anchored to online identities (as with some dating websites, online games, etc.). The prospect of meeting online friends offline largely makes me skeptical.

I think there are benefits and trade-offs for on- and off-line relationships. I think real-life relationships lack honest discourse, and online relationships lack a sense of reality. For example, I have a friend from Arizona who I had video-chatted with dozens of times, but I did not have a sense of her mannerisms, how she walked, fidgeted, and played with her fingers when nervous until I met her in person. There is no adequate replacement for a real-life interaction. But by the time I had met her, I knew most everything about her--the truth without fear of reprisal real-life interactions imply.

Perhaps we, as a society, would benefit from creating venues for interaction straddling real-life and technology-mediated communication. In this way, we might benefit from brutally honest discourse social technology allows through anonymity, and yet still have a personal, intimate environment as an anchor.